1. Technical Field
The present invention pertains to medical instrument stands, such as Mayo stands employed in operating rooms. In particular, the present invention pertains to a medical instrument stand for thermally treating a sterile surgical solution and medical instruments contained within a surgical drape container of a stand tray. In addition, the stand and drape detect the presence of solution and/or leaks within the drape container to control system operation. The stand is preferably utilized with surgical drapes employed for thermal treatment systems that thermally treat a sterile surgical liquid, such as the types disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,934,152 (Templeton), U.S. Pat. No. 5,163,299 (Faries, Jr. et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,331,820 (Faries, Jr. et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,333,326 (Faries, Jr. et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,400,616 (Faries, Jr. et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,402,644 (Faries, Jr. et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,429,801 (Faries Jr. et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,457,962 (Faries, Jr. et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,502,980 (Faries, Jr. et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,522,095 (Faries, Jr. et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,524,643 (Faries, Jr. et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,551,240 (Faries, Jr. et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,615,423 (Faries, Jr. et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,653,938 (Faries, Jr. et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,809,788 (Faries, Jr. et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,816,252 (Faries, Jr. et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,857,467 (Faries, Jr. et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,862,672 (Faries, Jr. et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,879,621 (Faries, Jr. et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,950,438 (Faries, Jr. et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,003,328 (Faries, Jr. et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,035,855 (Faries, Jr. et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,087,636 (Faries, Jr. et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,091,058 (Faries, Jr. et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,255,627 (Faries, Jr. et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,371,121 (Faries, Jr. et al.) and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2003/0231990 (Faries, Jr. et al.). The disclosures in the above-mentioned patents and patent application publication are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Generally, Mayo stands are commonly utilized in operating rooms to support various instruments for surgical procedures. These types of stands typically include a vertical support with a horizontal tray in which the instruments are placed. In order to provide a sterile field for the instruments, a Mayo stand cover is generally employed and placed over the tray and a substantial portion of the vertical support. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,379,703 (Marshall) discloses a folded cover which may readily be transported and placed over the tray of a Mayo stand with little likelihood of becoming prematurely unfolded and being contaminated by contact with a non-sterile surface. The Mayo stand cover includes an elongated flat bag of sterilizable sheet material having an open bottom end and a closed top end, and sized to fit over the tray and a portion of the vertical support of the Mayo stand when unfolded. A cuff is formed over a portion of the bag at the open end. Sterile, gloved hands may be placed into the cuff for transporting the cover and slipping the cover over the Mayo stand. The remaining portion of the bag is folded so as to define a folded material portion adjacent to and outside the cuff. An element is provided for retaining and releasing the folded material portion prior to and during use of the bag as a cover, respectively.
Performance of medical or surgical procedures may be enhanced by the use of heated medical instruments. The medical instruments are typically warmed prior to commencing the procedure and generally reduce the adverse effects caused by substantial temperature differences between the patient body and the medical instrument. Since Mayo stands generally support the medical instruments without thermal treatment, an additional device is required to warm the medical instruments for a procedure. This tends to clutter the operating room or other facility hosting the medical procedure and increases procedure costs. The device further provides medical personnel with the additional tasks of operating and monitoring the device for a medical procedure, thereby complicating the procedure and increasing the risk of injury and/or complications for the patient.